Academic Honor

Academic Honor

Li Si (center), a professor at the Yau Mathematical Sciences Center of Tsinghua University, receives the Morningside Gold Medal of Mathematics award at the opening ceremony of the Seventh International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians in Beijing on August 6.

The congress is a triennial event that brings together Chinese and overseas mathematicians for the discussion of developments in mathematics.

Progress Targets

China expects knowledge-intensive services to contribute 20 percent of its GDP in 2020, up from 15.6 percent in 2015, according to the latest five-year plan for the nation’s scientific and technological progress.

The total factor productivity (TFP), of which technological progress is a key sub-section, aims to account for 60 percent of the country’s economic growth in 2020, up from 55.3 percent last year, according to the plan, which was published by the State Council on August 8. The TFP is the measure of the efficiency of all inputs to a production process.

The number of Chinese patent applications submitted under the Patent Cooperation Treaty in 2020 is expected to be double the number submitted in 2015, the plan states.

Government priorities over the next five years include directing resources to key and long-term strategic areas, fostering domestic creativity, creating a favorable policy environment and removing barriers to innovation.

The plan lists measures to improve legislation regarding scientific research and technological development, streamline fundraising systems and raise governance efficiency.

Genome Databases

A genome project for newborn babies was launched in Shanghai on August 7 to aid the early identification and treatment of hereditary diseases.

Jointly initiated by the Chinese Board of Genetic Counseling and the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai, the project will carry out genetic testing on 100,000 newborn babies over the coming five years.

The findings will be gathered in a database, and a genetic testing standard for hereditary diseases will be developed, which will improve the identification and treatment of inherited diseases.

Huang Guoying, President of the hospital, said that early identification can help doctors devise better treatment strategies and improve patients’ quality of life.

On the same day, the Chinese Board of Genetic Counseling and a hospital affiliated with Shandong University jointly launched China’s embryo genome project.

An embryo genome database will improve research into, and understanding of, embryo development and increase diagnostic rates.

Some 7,000 inherited diseases are known to exist, and about 900,000 babies are born with birth defects in China annually, according to sources with the Chinese Board of Genetic Counseling.

Subsidies for Orphans

The Central Government will allocate more funds to the basic living allowance for orphans and children living with HIV/AIDS, the Ministry of Finance said on August 8.

It will channel 700 million yuan ($105 million) more into the allowance fund this year, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.

Coupled with the 1.24 billion yuan ($187 million) already extended, the Central Government has allocated 1.94 billion yuan ($292 million) to the fund this year.

Orphans and children living with HIV/AIDS in China’s less-developed western regions receive 400 yuan ($60) each month, while those in central areas and eastern provinces get 300 yuan ($45) and 200 yuan ($30) per month, respectively.

China has more than 500,000 orphans and children living with HIV/AIDS.

Terror Fight

The government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region unveiled China’s first local counterterrorism legislation on August 5.

Based on China’s Counterterrorism Law, passed in December 2015, the local rules detail and supplement the national law in defining terror activities and terrorists, security precautions, intelligence, investigations, countermeasures and punishment.

The statute, which features measures to implement the Counterterrorism Law in the region and contains 61 items in 10 chapters, took effect on August 1. The newmeasures stress that religious extremism is one of the ideological bases of terrorism and must be prevented and punished.

Nayim Yasen, head of the Standing Committee of the Xinjiang Regional People’s Congress, said that the region, as the main battlefield in China’s war against terrorism, has gained experience in combating terrorism in recent years, ensuring the practicality and effectiveness of the new legislation.

Transparent Procurement

Information on military equipment research projects has been made public for the first time in China to encourage competition in the formerly closed sector, the PLA Daily reported on August 8.

The Procurement Bureau of the Equipment Development Department under the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the armament departments of the Army and Navy have released on an official weapons procurement website details of over 800 projects that will receive funding totaling 3.7 billion yuan ($557 million).

The military will continue to update the content of Weain.mil.cn, which was launched in January 2015 in a move to open China’s defense sector to private enterprises and boost competition in military procurement.

According to Lu Bin, from the website, the information resource has already clocked up 300,000 visitors, and over 800 enterprises have sought further information through offline consultation channels in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Chongqing and Xi’an.

Since its inception, the website has accrued over 9,000 registered enterprise and institutional users and has issued over 2,000 notices on military procurement.

Tiger Breeding

China’s largest Siberian tiger breeding center, the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park, announced on August 7 that it has bred over 50 tiger cubs so far this year.

Located in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, the park has over 1,000 Siberian tigers. Scientists handpick certain tigers, using a DNA database, to breed the next generation every year.

Liu Dan, engineer in chief of the park, said that the park has been controlling the tigers’ population to remain around 1,000 in order to maintain the ecological balance.

Siberian tigers’ natural breeding season peaks in May and June. After living with their mothers for around 100 days, the park’s newlyborn cubs are relocated to a semiwild environment within the park, so that they can learn to fend for themselves.

The Siberian tiger is among the world’s most endangered species, now mostly confined to far-eastern Russia. The Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park was established in 1986 with the aim of developing a gene pool to ensure the genetic diversity of the species.

Housing Renovation

The Chinese Government allocated 821.1 billion yuan ($124 billion) to cover the renovation of substandard housing in the first seven months of the year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on August 10.

Work began on the building of 4.67 million homes in former shanty

Underwater Games

Divers play football underwater in an aquarium during a promotional event in the Haichang Whale Shark Ocean Park in Yantai, Shandong Province, on August 9.

Sweet Day

A couple poses for selfies at a marriage registration office in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, on August 9.

The day, which was the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, marked the Qixi Festival, also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day. towns during the January-July period, accounting for 78 percent of this year’s target of 6 million homes, according to a press release by the ministry.

Last year, China started to renovate 6.01 million substandard dwellings, exceeding the target by 4 percent. It aims to build 18 million homes for shanty town residents between 2015 and 2017.

The government spent 1.54 trillion yuan ($232 billion) on affordable housing programs in 2015, which provides cheaper homes to low-income families.